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Ties to Argentina cut after arrest of former ambassador

August 24, 2003|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran is cutting its cultural and economic ties with Argentina because of the arrest in Britain of a former Iranian ambassador to Argentina in connection with a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, state television said on Saturday.

Ex-envoy Hadi Soleimanpour, 47, was arrested in Britain on Thursday after Argentina requested his extradition in connection with the AMIA Jewish Community Center blast that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires. He was ambassador there at the time.

Diplomats said the Iranian initiative could affect Argentinian exports to Iran, which include wheat, sunflower oil, rice and other basic foodstuffs.

Tehran denies any involvement in the Buenos Aires bombing and previously withdrew its ambassador from Argentina to protest against the claim of Iranian involvement.

Britain's charge d'affaires in Tehran, Matthew Gould, told Reuters he had told Iranian Foreign Ministry officials Soleimanpour's arrest was not politically motivated, and the court's decision was independent of the British government.

"The British government cannot interfere at this stage of the extradition process," he said.